Fourteen Again
by Pales Megami
Summary: *Sequel to "Parting of the Ways"* Dark? Gone forever? Pshaw.


Fourteen Again  
by Pales Megami  
  
  
Disclaimer: D.N.Angel and all its characters belong to Yukiru Sugisaki. I am making no profit from this fanfic, nor do I intend to make any profit. D.N.Angel does not, unfotunately, belong to me. If it did, Satoshi and Daisuke would be going at it like rabbits :P  
  
A/N: Ah. I lied. This little piece is the sequel to "Parting of the Ways," which I claimed would be my only D.N.Angel fic. Ha. Ha ha. D.N.Angel, one fic only? No, I don't know what I was thinking either.  
  
* denotes emphasis on a word  
// denotes Dark's thoughts  
/ denotes... someone else's thoughts :P  
  
*~*~  
  
  
Colors. Swimming, red, purple, blue, yellow...dots... blue... everywhere. Where? Colors. Pretty. Me... who? Everywhere. Orange. Where? I... everywhere... colors... where...   
  
Here.   
  
"Happy birthday, kiddo."   
  
I smirk.  
  
*~*~  
  
Riku and I both snap our heads up at the loud *thump* from upstairs. It was odd; normally, we wouldn't think twice about thumps and crashes upstairs or downstairs. Hideo isn't exactly the most... *careful* kid. I mean, I'd suspect something was wrong with him if he didn't bump into something or trip down the stairs at least once every day. Today, though... today was different. You could cut the tension in the house with a knife. Noises as subtle as a car driving by sent us both jumping. It really wasn't *bad* tension. Nervous, I guess. Nervous tension, tense from anticipation.  
  
"Um..." Riku glances nervously at the ceiling as she stirs some soup. "We don't need to check up on him, do we?"  
  
"Hideo should be fine," I assure her. "It *is* Hideo, after all."  
  
"Of course." She giggles softly, but I still detect a slight waver in it. My own breath shakes a little-- OK, a lot-- as I sigh into the newspaper. Calm down, Daisuke, I scold myself. It's not that big of a deal.  
  
Not that big of a deal? I mentally counter. Kami-sama, who the hell am I kidding? This is probably the biggest deal I'm ever going to experience in my entire life.   
  
The big pin-up calendar hangs above the kitchen table. There is a big red circle around one of the dates.   
  
That date is today.  
  
Today is Saturday, March 6.   
  
It is also Hideo's birthday.  
  
... He turns 14 today.  
  
  
*~*~  
  
"Ohmygodohmygodohmygod oh. My. God."  
  
Cute kid. He's *so* like Daisuke.   
  
"What the *hell* just happened..."  
  
//Me. *I* just happened, kiddo.//  
  
He jumps about a foot in the air with a yelp. I laugh. So very much like Daisuke.   
  
"And..." He takes a ragged breath. "Who are you?"  
  
Wha? Who am I? Didn't Daisuke... //You mean you don't know?//  
  
"If I did, I wouldn't be asking."  
  
Cheeky thing. Maybe not so much like Dai-chan after all. //Ever heard of Dark? Dark Mousy? Kaitou Dark?//  
  
"No..." His forehead wrinkles in thought. "Well-- it *does* sound kinda familiar. I guess. Um." It's so cute how he twiddles his thumbs like that. "So-- so, who are you, exactly?"  
  
//Exactly Dark Mousy, Kaitou thief, and one real hot piece of ass.//  
  
"...."   
  
//All the Niwa doods turn into Dark on their 14th birthday. It's like a sex-linked curse.//  
  
"So..."  
  
//So now you're me, only not really, and I'm you, only not really, and we raid museums and live happily ever after.//  
  
"Raid... museums?"  
  
//Yeah. For the art.// I wonder if Riku would clothes that kick as much ass as Emiko's did. ... Probably not. //Hey, kid.//  
  
"It's Hideo."  
  
//Sorry. Hideo, is your dad home?//  
  
"Um, yeah, he's downstairs. Why? Did yo-- whoa, hey, wait a--!"  
  
/WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED?!/  
  
"I told you. *I* just happened."  
  
Cute kid. *Just* like Daisuke.   
  
*~*~  
  
Riku plops down into the chair opposite me, heaving a tired sigh. She smiles at me as she unties her apron and takes my hand.  
  
"Daisuke." Her voice is soothing, gentle. "It's going to be OK. Really."   
  
"Oh, I know it'll be fine," I reply with a bite of impatience. "I mean, it's *Dark*. But..." I bite my lip. "I don't know. It's just so-- so weird, you know? After all these years, and he's coming back. And we don't even know *when* he's coming back. What if he just came sauntering into the kitchen right now?"  
  
"What... like this?"   
  
I freeze. Riku freezes. It's... he's... could it...? I'm almost afraid to turn around. Why? Why am I afraid? Because it might not be him? No. There's no mistaking that voice: smirking, proud, teasing, laughing... protective, reassuring...  
  
Wonderful.  
  
He still has the same smell; a mixture of cologne and newly washed clothes. It fills my nostrils when I bury my head in his chest. Even after twenty-one years, he's still managed to remain taller. I recognize the wool under my face and around my body. I knew that when I let go and looked, it would be purple.   
  
Not a word is said. There is nothing to be said. Everything was simply understood, silently, like reading thoughts that were never formed. Riku is probably crying; I can hear little sniffles in the background. Or is that me sniffling? It doesn't really matter.   
  
"I kept my promise, Dark."  
  
"I know."  
  
I still have my assignment notebook. In the little square next to "Long Term Assignments," there is a little red checkmark.   
  
  
*~*~  
  
Oh, Dark. I missed you so much it hurts. It still hurts, but in a good way. Like on the day you left, everything comes flashing through my mind. It makes me sad. But it's OK.   
I wish I could go with you again.   
I wish I could sneak through the museum again, steal whatever it was you wanted to steal again. I wish I could have adventures with you again.   
I wish I could have that mental connection with you again.   
I wish I was you again, and you were me again, and we were different people but the same again.   
Oh, Dark.   
It hurts.  
But in a good way.  
I wish I was fourteen again.  
And I love you.  
  
  
FIN  
  
  
End A/N: ::twitch:: I tried to stay *away* from the sap, but I don't think it's really possible to write a serious DNAngel fic completely sap-free. As this is the sequel to my first DNAngel fic, you have to read that to understand some things (i.e, the assignment notebook thing). Hope it wasn't too painful for you. And yes, I do realize that Daisuke still sounds like he's fourteen ~_~   
  
P.S: An interesting tidbit I'm sure you don't give a rat's ass about-- I was completely stumped when I had to name Daisuke's kid. After mulling over all the male Japanese names I knew, I finally settled on Hideo, after Hideo Nomo, the ex-Boston Red Sox pitcher who pitched a no hitter against the Orioles last April. I am a rabid Red Sox fan. I admit it. I don't think you're allowed to live in New England without being one. 


End file.
